Chinese suppliers race to order U.S. beef

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 - 01:08

Chinese meat importers rush to get their hands on the first shipments of beef from the United States in 14 years. Grace Lee reports.

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Soon to be on the dinner table in China; mouth watering U.S. steak.
Importers are racing to get their hands on the first beef shipments from America in 14 years, after Beijing agreed to resume trade last week, ending ban that's been in place since a mad cow disease scare in 2003.
China's beef import market is growing fast as an expanding middle spends more money eating out at restaurants, ramping up sales to nearly 6 million tonnes last year.
And now that American meat is making a comeback, China's current top supplier, Australia, is facing some stiff competition.
Despite the long beef ban, American meat has a reputation for quality in China.
Raising cattle in the U.S. is also cheeper, meaning beef can be sold for less.
But despite the pent-up demand, it'll be all sizzle and no steak for a while.
China's strict import laws mean many U.S. producers are going to have ring in some changes before they're granted access to a 2.6 billion dollar market.

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